Kingsport School Leaders Disagree With New State Law Requiring ELA Proficiency

A new state law in Tennessee that will hold third grade students back if they are not proficient in English Language Arts has gotten the attention of Kingsport City School leaders, and they don’t like the idea. The new law requires third graders to score proficient on the English Language Arts portion of the TCAP test. If they don’t, they’ll be held back a grade, be required to go to summer school and will be provided with tutoring. Kingsport school leaders say research does not show it’s to the best advantage of children to be retained and do not support it as it is written because it hinges on one piece of data. The school system believes the decision to retain a child should be left up to the families, teachers and principals.